(ՀՈՐԻԶՈՆ) Փետրուարի սկիզբը, Գանատայի Քեպէգ նահանգի Ազգային ժողովի պատգամաւոր Տէյվիտ Պիրնպամ Ազգային Ժողովի նիստին խնդրագիր մը պիտի ներկայացնէ, որուն մէջ կը շեշտուի Հայոց, ցեղասպանութիւնը, հրեաներու Ողջակիզումը, եւ ռուանտացիներու ցեղասպանութիւնը Քեպէգի կրթական ծրագրին մէջ ընդգրկելու անհրաժեշտութիւնը։
Անցնող ամիսներուն, խնդրագրին համար ստորագրահաւաքներ տեղի ունեցած են։ ստորագրահաւաքի արշաւներ կազմակերպած է նաեւ Քեպէգի Հայ Դատի յանձնախումբը։
Friday deadline looms for genocide education petition
By Robert Frank
(The Suburban) Just two days are left to sign the online appeal calling for Quebec schools to teach about genocide and how to prevent it.
Montrealer Heidi Berger spearheaded the petition after senior Education Ministry officials stonewalled her request last year to include the topic in the high school curriculum.
Berger began her initiative after talking to Quebec high school students who had never heard of the word genocide.
She said that she was astonished when ministry mandarin Cathérine Dupont gave her the brush-off after a two-hour meeting in Quebec City.
“She said genocide could only be taught under the umbrella of Quebec history,” she told The Suburban, which would limit discussion of genocide to the aboriginal experience here.
Berger concluded that, to see the light of day, genocide education would need to be made a government priority.
She launched her petition, which anyone can sign online at: https://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/exprimez-votre-opinion/petition/Petition-5611/index.html
Berger also has embarked on a series of meetings with cabinet ministers and union leaders to bolster political support.
“It’s particularly important that we start teaching this in our schools now because in 2015 a worrisome number of youth left Quebec to join ISIS,” Kyle Matthews the high-profile senior deputy director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights at Concordia University told The Suburban. “This is not an exercise to commemorate the Holocaust or the Armenian, Rwandan and now Syrian genocides. Rather, it applies today: reinforcing social cohesion and stopping extremism in our schools and in wider society. It is essential to diminish the attractiveness of a group like ISIS that is committing major crimes against humanity.”
He stressed that education is the province’s primary tool in its anti-radicalization arsenal.
“We can’t control what people say in social media, but neither should we abandon our students,” he explained in an interview. “We can teach them about people with very dangerous ideas who are able to reach into their bedrooms.”
Community groups that want to print out and circulate written versions of the petition are not bound by the Jan. 15 deadline, added www.genocideeducationfoundation.org spokeswoman Marcy Bruck.
“Groups that want to collect signatures can contact us at genocidefoundation@yahoo.ca to obtain printed copies of the petition to complete,” she explained. “They may submit them up until the time that the petition will be presented in the National Assembly. Though we do not know precisely when this will be, it will not be before Feb. 9, when the legislature reconvenes.”
Berger remains optimistic that the time could not be riper to introduce genocide education.
“I am looking forward to the response when [D’Arcy McGee MNA] David Birnbaum reads the petition in the National Assembly,” she concluded.
Photo: Québec Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil (fourth from left) met, Dec. 14, with genocide education advocates (L-R) Mike Flinker, Marcy Bruck, Heidi Berger, Mher Karakachian, Kyle Matthews, Hrag Jinjinian and Aram Elagoz.
Pétition :
Étude obligatoire du génocide dans les écoles secondaires du Québec
Texte de la pétition
CONSIDÉRANT QUE l’intolérance et la discrimination raciales et culturelles sont les précurseurs du génocide, défini comme la destruction systématique d’un groupe racial, ethnique ou culturel;
CONSIDÉRANT QUE l’éducation est la clé pour reconnaître et prévenir les actes de discrimination et de haine chez nos jeunes enfants et que la connaissance des génocides est essentielle pour les prévenir de tels gestes à l’avenir;
CONSIDÉRANT QU’un grand nombre d’étudiants québécois ne savent rien des génocides passés ou présents, y compris l’Holocauste, le génocide arménien, le génocide rwandais et le génocide culturel de nos Premières nations;
CONSIDÉRANT QUE l’étude du génocide ne fait pas actuellement partie du programme d’études secondaires au Québec et que la Fondation pour l’étude obligatoire du génocide dans les écoles est prête à aider à instaurer un tel cours;
Nous, soussignés, demandons que l’Assemblée nationale et le ministre de l’Éducation, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche agissent pour rendre l’étude du génocide obligatoire dans toutes les écoles secondaires du Québec en vue de créer une société tolérante et pacifique qui tolère toutes les cultures et religions.
La période de signature de la pétition est terminée.
Date limite pour signer : 15 janvier 2016
Nombre de signataires : 1245